Making soups in the Instantpot is a very comforting evening for us. One -it is very easy to put together and needs no baby-sitting. Two – soups are always our favorite. It wraps us in a warm blanket inside and out 😀
I have a lot of backyard vegetable patches where I grow a variety of vegetables. Spring into summer is the best yields I have harvested thus far. Usually I don’t plant specifically for the winter, because I don’t like to be outside tending to my vegetables when it is cold 🥶 Last year I braved the cold and planted a variety of vegetables starting from the fall. I did not have much luck, although one vegetable did very well – Swiss chards. They started out very slowly but eventually was growing by the bunches every few days. So much so that we are still harvesting them now in April. I am guessing Swiss chards are year-long greens and I may leave them to continue to thrive.
Today we harvested a bunch of Swiss chards and decided to incorporate them differently in a soup. If you remember one of my earlier soups – Kale barley soup – we always used kale in soups because of its hardy nature. Similarly Swiss chards too can take to intense cooking. We used plenty of mushrooms to add depth and natural umami flavor. We cooked the chards in the soup and also added them fresh on top and allowed it to wilt. The variety of textures was indeed delicious and enjoyed by everyone. The seasoning also provided a kick and a surprise element – we used curry powder to season the soup!
Serve the soup with olive crostini on the side…. Cosy meal to be enjoyed over end-of-day conversations!!
Mushroom barley soup with Swiss chards
Equipment
- InstantPot
Ingredients
- 1 small Onion chopped
- 3 pods Garlic chopped
- 2 cups Tomatoes chopped
- 2 cups Mushrooms chopped
- 2 cups Swiss chards packed – to cook
- 1 cup Swiss chards to wilt on top
- 2 cups Vegetable broth low-sodium
- 1 cup Pearl barley
- 1 tbsp Curry powder seasoning
- 1/2 tsp french Thyme seasoning
- 2 tbsps Olive oil
Instructions
- Heat the InstantPot on Saute mode, add olive oil, onions and garlic and stir
- Add the curry powder and thyme seasoning powders to allow the flavors to fry in the oil
- Add mushrooms, barley, tomatoes, Swiss chards and vegetable broth; Mix well, season with salt
- Cook on pressure for 10 minutes; Let cool down naturally for 15 minutes
- Add the remaining Swiss chards and put the lid back and let it wilt for 5 minutes
- Serve with crostini on the side
Loved this. My son ate it too – and he usually doesn’t like mushrooms.
Thank you Kritika. Very glad to hear this.